Empress Elizabeth had the palace built, and construction finished in 1754 after thirteen years. She gave it to Count Aleksey Razumovsky that year. The article says some suggest Bartolomeo Rastrelli and Mikhail Zemtsov designed it, but calls that unsubstantiated. The original design was Baroque, with its main front facing the river.
Ivan Starov renovated it in a Neoclassical style in 1778 and 1779 for Prince Potemkin. Giacomo Quarenghi added the Imperial Cabinet under Alexander I. After 1866, Alexander III's family refaced it in a mix of historic styles. The article gives no dimensions or materials.
The palace was nationalized after the October Revolution and became the Young Pioneer Palace in 1934. A small museum inside opens at selected times, and the building is normally closed to tourists.
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